626 



GLEANli\GS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



WHAT IS THE MATTER OF THE BEES? 



HAVE three colonies, the bees of wliich crawl 



out of the hive and die; some of them turn on 



their backs and die in that position. Those that 



die appear to be pulled, and look to be nearly 



one-half larger than their natural size. I have 



never had any thing like it. The brood appears in 



g-ood condition. I can't see any pin-holes, but a few 



dead grubs, which I thought was caused by not 



having bees enough to take care of the brood. 



The queens arc vigorous, and look all right, and 



there is no unusual smell in the hive. 



Massillon, ()., May 19, 188T. H. Beatty. 



[Friend B.. we can not tell you what the trouble 



is, unless it is dysentery or spring dwindling. See 



the ABC book for a full description and discussion 



of the matter.] 



HONEV ( ANDYING AS SOON AS GATHERED. 



Our honey down here candied as soon as gather- 

 ed, so that we can not extract any. What is the 

 cause? Will bees use it in rearing brood? It is so 

 hai-d that you can cut it with a knife. 



Pleasant Hill. S. C, July 4. G. W. Beckham. 



[It is rather unusual 1o have honej^ candy so soon. 

 You do not state the probable source of the honey 

 in question. The bees will probably use it this 

 time of year, without any trouble.] 



BLACK BEES ON RED CLOVER. 



There is a clover-field one mile from my place. 

 My neighbor sowed red clover for his black bees — 

 " make honey out of it," he said. I see mine flying 

 in that direction. I suppose they gather honey 

 from there. A. Henno. 



Aurora, Ark., July 15, 1887. 



the season for MRS. HARRISON. 



Not one of our colonies has died from starvation 

 ui> to date, August 6th, although we have not fed 

 any, excepting three swarms, which are all we have 

 had this season. The price of honey is on the rise, 

 notwithstanding that convention to boost the price 

 failed to materialize. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Peoria, III. 



COOK'S house for the apiary. 



Perhaps criticisms by the "smaller fry " are not 

 in order, but I'll make the venture. If cars run- 

 ning past an apiary will disturb the bees in winter, 

 would not the use of an engine and machinery in 

 the shop of Prof. Cook also produce a detrimental 

 ettect upon the bees? William E. (jould. 



Fremont, Mich., July ao, 1887. 



SEVERE stinging. 



We had a case of severe stinging ten days ago. 

 Mr. M. went u)) in a tree 30 or 40 teet after a swarm, 

 sawed the limb off, which fell so as to dislodge the 

 bees, when they returned and alighted on his head, 

 smothering him and stinging at the same time, 

 which almost cost him his life, friends and physi- 

 cians watching for IM hours, expecting him to die. 

 He is up now, though whether feeling entirely well 

 or not I can not say. M. L. Brewer. 



Philo, 111., June33, 1887. 



extracted f) LBS. 



The season with us is a rather discouraging one. 

 Clover was a failure, and basswood not much bet- 

 ter, but then; seems to be considei-able honey 

 gathered from red clover at this date, and we hope 

 to get enough to winter, without feeding. I ha^e 



already extracted six pounds, and I hope to get a 

 few more. We will, however, not complain, but 

 " get the dish right side up " for next season, and 

 drive at something else, meanwhile, to " make both 

 ends meet." Christian Weckesser. 



Marshallville, O., Aug. 8, 1887. 



IS IT necessary to use acid in syrups, for win- 

 ter feed? 



Can vinegar, or any thing else, be used as a sub- 

 stitute for tartaric acid in making sugar syrup, on 

 which to winter bees? If so, please give me the 

 proportion to use. John Ma.ior. 



Cokeville, Pa., July 10, 1887. 



[Yes, you can use vinegar as a substitute for tar- 

 taric acid in sugar syrup; but our experience for a 

 good many years, without the admixture of either 

 acids in the syrup, has shown that they are not 

 needed. It is thought by some that the acid will 

 prevent granulation, but we never have any trou- 

 ble with the syrup granulating, made with sugar 

 and water only.] 



muth's plan of curing foul brood a success. 



I have bad a l)ig tight with foul brood. I lost near- 

 ly all about three years ago, but I am all right now. 

 I destroyed neither bees nor hives. I followed Mr. 

 Mvith's plan. I drove the bees into clean combs and 

 used an atomizer with medicine as he directs, two 

 or three times for two weelis. I see one man adver- 

 tises, "Foul brood, no! Never saw a case." F^or 

 my i)art, I should have more confidence in him if he 

 had had such experience. His apiary may be rotten 

 before he knows it. M. G. Young. 



Highland, N. Y., June 37, 1887. 



do king-birds swallow worker-bees? 



On page .514 you ask, "Do king-birds swallow 

 worker-bees?" In May, 1884, I killed about 30 king- 

 birds in my apiary, and opened a dozen of them. I 

 found worker-bees in every one of them. I believe 

 it was before any drones had hatched. Tell those 

 bee-keepers who found nothing in the crop, to look 

 in the gizzard. I very much doubt if a king-bird 

 has any crop. 1 think their food passes from the 

 mouth directly to the gizzard. When drones or 

 queens are flying they take them in preference to 

 workers. 



Mauston, Wis., July 11. 18S7. F. Wilcox. 



[Many thanks, friend W. In addition to your let- 

 ter we have had two or three others, saying that 

 king-birds do swallow worker-bees. One instance 

 showing that such is the case is worth more than 

 any number of others trying to prove that these 

 birds do not swallow bees.] 



the guilty king-bird, again. 



I shot a king-bird last week in my yard, opened 

 its crop, and found seven of my bees in it. We call 

 them bee-martins. They have a little crown of 

 bright-yellow feathers on top of the head, which re- 

 sembles a flower. K. B. Williams. 



Winchester, Tenn., July 3o, 1887. 



THE EATING OF COMB HONEY, AND ITS EFFECT ON 

 the SYSTEM. 



I should like to hear from you in regard to the ef- 

 fects of eating comb honey. I am quite healthy, 

 and regular in my habits, but I find, when I eat lib- 

 erally of it, that I become (juite constipated. I at- 

 tribute it to the wax, but I may be mistaken. Is it 

 thoroughly soluble in the stomach? 



P. J. Christian. 



New Orleans, La., July 17, 18S7. 



[I can hardly think that wax has any thing to do 

 in the matter. There are very few who can eat 

 either extracted or comb honey in a large (luan- 

 tity at a time without some bad ett'ects.] 



